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Skirmish of the Pax-Sigma Relay
The '''Skirmish of the Pax-Sigma Relay' was a naval engagement between the Systems Alliance and Batarian Hegemony during the First Skyllian War. It took place at the Pax-Sigma Relay, a mass relay connecting Alliance and batarian territories, aswell as a within a large asteroid field near the relay.'' The Beginning In May of 2189, the received reports of strange activity from the Pax-Sigma Relay. The Alliance deployed the Battlegroup Alexandria detachment from Second Fleet to the Pax-Sigma Relay to patrol for Batarians who were possibly using the relay to slip into Alliance-space. The battlegroup arrived at the relay only minutes after deployment and seconds after a flotilla of Batarian Toa-class Frigates passed through the relay. The battlegroup opened fire on the frigates, whom quickly began a series of eratic movements to out-maneuvre the bulkier Alliance ships. Out of eleven frigates, the Alliance battlegroup managed to destroy or otherwise disable six while the survivors quickly escaped at FTL-speed toward the nearby Pax-Sigma Asteroid Field. Rear Admiral Radford, commanding officer of the SSV Alexandria and the entire battlegroup, knew that there was a likely possibility of a trap if he followed the frigates to the asteroid field. To ensure the safety of his forces, Jerome sent the SSV Mycale to the brink of the asteroid field to scout what potentially awaited them. Having slipped into the debris field and drifted by several massive asteroids, the Mycale would come across a Batarian rendezvous point. The Batarians were evidently sending small flotillas of cruisers, frigates, and destroyers through the Pax-Sigma Relay and having them rendezvous at the nearby debris field where their numbers quickly multiplied. After the presence of the growing batarian fleet was reported by Captain Neutra, Radford had no choice but to signal for immediate reinforcements. Answering his call was Admiral Magloire of Security Task Force 1-3 and Captain Cho of the Battlegroup Houston. The Alliance reinforcements arrived before any additional Hegemony vessels arrived through the relay and linked-up with Battlegroup Alexandria. In preparation for an assault, the three separate naval formations combined under the leadership of Radford, the highest-ranked officer in the entire force. To protect their rear, Radford ordered a handful of cruisers to remain near the relay to intercept any hostiles passing through the relay. First Phase After quickly organizing in attack formation, the contingent of Alliance ships headed for the Pax-Sigma field to do battle with the Batarian naval force. The frigates broke formation from the rest of the Alliance forces and began using their superior speed to perform hit-and-run attacks on the batarians, striking the vessels with torpedoes and disappearing behind the giant asteroids. Radford led the Alliance cruisers and destroyers in a frontal assault against the Hegemony formation, catching the already dazed fleet even further off-guard. Most commanders in the Batarian fleet weren't used to doing battle in close-quarters as they were confined to a small space within the debris field. They were even more unfamiliar with the Alliance's ability to adapt to such situations and use their environment to their favor. More experienced officers who commanded the Cynad, Idona, and Bentas did what they could to rally the remaining Batarian ships and put-up an effective defense long enough for reinforcements to arrive.After the Batarian formation adjusted and their defense increased, the two battling forces had become locked in a stalemate. In an attempt to break this stalemate, both sides unleashed squadrons of interceptors and fighters to weaken their enemies. The resulting dogfights pitted several ace pilots against one another. As these fighters battled it out with one another in the debris field, Radford had his ships turn the majority of their attention on the Cynad, Idona, and Bentas which seemed to be acting as the batarian's command ships. He ordered his fighters and frigates to chip away at their kinetic barriers so that his cruisers and destroyers could finish them and throw the Batarians back into disarray. The Alliance forces did just that and soon, two of the three batarian command ships were destroyed. The only one that remained was the Bentas and it had received critical damage far too great to allow it to continue the battle. To Save itself, the Bentas called for an immediate retreat back to the Pax-Sigma Relay. Knowing that he had ships positioned there, Radford wasn't worried that the Bentas and the majority of it's ships managed to slip away from the onslaught and pull off at FTL-speed. Second Phase Radford's forces left the asteroid field a few minutes after the surviving Batarians escaped the field as they had to allow their fighters and interceptors to re-dock at their appropriate hangars. By the time they returned to the Pax-Sigma Relay, the ships that radford ordered to stay behind were crippled and Batarian reinforcements were closing in on their position. Evidently, an overwhelming force came through the relay and disabled the Alliance ships allowing the Bantas to escape and the operational vessels under it's command to join the fresh fleet. Radford ordered his contingent to spli back into the three separate fleets as quickly as possible and attempt to surround the Batarians, whom now outnumbered the Alliance forces. The Batarians would see the split in formation and adapt appropriately, having destroyers and frigates intercept the Alliance forces as they attempted their flanking maneuvre. This resulted in both sides hammering away at one another in mid-range combat with the Batarians slowly overwhelming the Alliance. Radford was surprised by the strength and numbers the Batarian's spresented, especially since only a few years ago all of their naval formations were too lightly-armed and defended aswell as too small and few to stand a chance against an Alliance formation. In an attempt to turn the tide back to his favor, Radford deplyed the fighter squadrons once again to slip into the batarian formation and wittle away at their shields. Eventually the two opposing forces advanced from mid-range combat to short-range and formations were forced to scatter as individual ships dueled with one another. The Alliance forces would be supported by fighters, something this new formation of Batarians didn't possess due to lack of ships capable of carrying the small crafts. Having this advantage, Radford managed to cripple the Batarians over-time and cause any survivors to retreat back beyond the Pax-Sigma Relay. Aftermath Though the Alliance pulled out a victory in the skirmish, they were still worriedd by the increase in Batarian military strength and the fact that they were preparing invasion forces very early in the war. To prevent any further incidents such as this, the Alliance deployed several patrol fleets near mass relays that connected Alliance-space and Hegemony-space. They also formed task forces to hunt down any batarian scout flotillas in Alliance territory. Category:Galvanus Prime Category:Battles Category:First Skyllian War